The first prehistoric cultural signs of Fars should be seen in the ancient area of ” Tol-e Bakun.” Although the excavations of Tol-e Bakun were joined with unfavorable events and many of the findings were lost, the excavations still deserve attention. It is valuable from the point of view of archeology.
The ancient area of Tol-e Bakun, near Persepolis, comprises two mounds with a height of 4 m., whose history dates back to 4800-4000 BC. It was in 1306 that the German archaeologist Ernst Herzfeld from the Institute of Oriental Studies of the University of Chicago began excavations and investigations in Tol-e Bakun and achieved critical archaeological findings. He found similarities between the pottery in Tol-e Bakun and what he had discovered in Mesopotamia. After him, and with a gap of two years, two European archeologists made further explorations and speculated one of the two mounds that Herzfeld had yet not investigated. As a result, a series of houses, alleys, and rural life structures were discovered and identified. But the main work was done by Abbas Alizadeh, an Iranian archaeologist, in the past years, and he completed one of the most extensive explorations in prehistoric areas.
What has been achieved in Tol-e Bakun are signs of regional commerce, agriculture, architecture, the separation of the administrative, residential, and industrial sectors, the use of clay seals, metalwork, and everything that builds a society and a ruling institution. Another critical point in Tol-e Bakun is the workshop activities, signs of which have been revealed in the excavations. The clay locks that were gathered in the excavations of Tol-e Bakun, showing the number of these workshops and also a center was found where commercial trades were being conducted in the 5,000 millennium BC. Part of Tol-e Bakun is a prehistoric area in Fars and is associated with the period of advanced rural settlement.
In Tol-e Bakun, coarse pottery used by its inhabitants in daily work has been discovered in one of the mounds built in 5,000 BC, and the other belonging to 4,800 BC. Unfortunately, part of the works obtained in the first excavations of Tol-e Bakun, which was taken to America by ship, was sunk by German submarines (in World War II) and lost.
In any case, the pottery of Tol-e Bakun reveals the cultural period before the history of Fars. Pottery has geometric designs and decorative pictures, and its bodies are sometimes thin. These potteries are made of pea-colored clay. The patterns are brown and show a design of plants, animals, and humans. The sculptures are of horned animals such as goats and cows. However, most of the found statues have broken heads and tails. Bowls and dishes with a conical base are among the other finds from Tol-e Bakun. Another fascinating point is that on one of the dishes found in Tol-e Bakun, a picture of a frog can be seen, which is rare.
One of the larger dishes also shows a mountain goat motif, but what is surprising is the enormous goat horns that cover more or less the entire outer surface of the dish and have an artistic tendency. The animal’s body is tiny compared to its horns. Among the other findings of Tol-e Bakun of Marvdasht, a broken cross, being a sign of Arian beliefs. Other discovered crosses are in (+) shape. All this shows that the works found in Tol-e Bakun are placed in a superior and important position from an artistic point of view.
Part of the works obtained from Tol-e Bakun in the Institute of Oriental Studies of the University of Chicago
Archaeological investigations prove that Tol-e Bakun was populated from 6500 to 5400 BC. The houses had decorative colors, and their roofs were probably straw cobs or mats. Tol-e Bakun can be considered an advanced Neolithic society.
